13 replies to this topic

[MSwiss]

Not a recipe, but my wife and I did get to stop at one of the iconic BBQ spots, on our way back from Colorado, Arthur Bryant's, in a less than awesome neighborhood, in Kansas City.

[Jay Guard]

I see "Arthur" is still putting his signature thumbprint of the top of the bread (not kidding, that really is a thumbprint). Great to know things haven't changed. You are so correct about the place being in a less than desirable neighborhood but when I was going there I would often see the mayor's car or other such dignitary pull up to the place.

 

Without question one of the best BBQ places in the US.

[MSwiss]

David Liebenthal gave me a synopsis of the neighborhood, many years ago, when I talked about possibly stopping there. during a slot car road trip.

Currently the neighborhood is part residential, mostly industrial, with barb wire decorating both.

But at 1:30 in the afternoon, on a Sunday, with a million cars around, it didn't seem real dangerous.

It was well worth the stop.

They were out of pulled park, which turned out to be a blessing, as the sliced pork was spectacular.

The brisket was real good, maybe only surpassed by the brisket at an in town, Chicago place, Manta Ray and I went to once or twice, called Smoque.

I can't wait to eat the leftovers for dinner, while finishing up the drive home.

[don.siegel]

Yep, I ate at Smoque a couple years ago with my brother, pretty good - and looks like it's patterned after the Bryant place - never been to KC, so couldn't compare... 
 
Ever hear of a place called Tropical Hut on the South Side of Chicago? Our favorite when we were kids... 
 
Don 
 
PS: Maybe I've got a one-track mind, but to me BBQ means ribs, nothing else!

[MSwiss]

I use to agree with your "BBQ means ribs," comment, until I went to places like Memphis, and found out they didn't have baby back ribs like almost every place in Chicago had.

I worked on 73rd and Woodlawn for about 10 years, so I would occasionally get ribs from the iconic south side rib joints, like Leon's and Lem's.

I'm not familiar with the Tropical Hut, unless it's the place on about 7910th and Stony Island.

PS: When you lived on the south side, was Fat Johnny's hotdog stand around? It was on about 77th and Western.

[don.siegel]

If I remember right, Mike, T-Hut was up on 91st street, out of our neighborhood, but a short car ride away... We were on 82nd and Paxton, in the Horace Mann grammar school, South Shore HS area... 
 
77th and Western would have been way out of the way for us. Our local joint was Carl's on 83rd and Jeffrey, still a legend among all southsiders. Don't know Fat Johnny's. Now that my brother is up in Skokie, we go to Big Herm's (Palace) on Demptster - but there are lots of good hot dog joints around there. And one of my first summer jobs (after the Hobby Center on 71st) was at Vienna's, when it was still on Roosevelt Road - combo sausage factory and deli. I remember all the older folks always asking for "lean corned beef," as if we were scheming to stick them with the fatty stuff - and corned beef by definition is already pretty fatty! 
 
Didn't know Leon's or Lem's, but I was also bascially out of Chicago starting in 1970... 
 
Chicago is definitely the quality junk food capital of the world! 
 
Don

[MSwiss]

That's hilarious on the lean corned beef recollection.

When I worked for Hobby Service & Supply, I remember having to run an errand for the original owner and his wife before they retired.

I got sent to the iconic Loop grocery/gourmet deli, Stop and Shop, on Washington, off of State, to pick up a few things for them.

On my way out the door, I got my "make sure the corned beef is lean," marching orders from both of them. LOL.

[Cheater]

Maybe I've got a one-track mind, but to me BBQ means ribs, nothing else!

One's BBQ mindset definitely depends on where you lived and/or grew up.

South and North Carolina, eastern half of Tennessee, BBQ means pulled pork shoulder.
And Texas is into beef in a huge way, usually brisket.
Pork ribs, all styles, is a bit more universal IMO (except in Texas).

[MSwiss]

PS: Maybe I've got a one-track mind, but to me BBQ means ribs, nothing else!

 

It's changing a bit, but this is what people usually think is your typical Chicago BBQ is, a slab of baby back ribs from a place like the Patio.

[don.siegel]

Thanks, Mike - does the old heart good! (so to speak). 
 
They have ribs here in Paris, but they're not cut the same, and there's way too much meat on there! Strangely enough, the closest I've come to US style ribs is at a small country inn in Belgium, not far from Dunkirque, where we had a vintage race for a number of years... very close to the Chicago baby back model. 
 
Don't know if you've read any Calvin Trillin, but he's from Kansas City and has written a couple books on his food odysseys - very funny stuff, and he of course defends the KC style of BBQ. 
 
Don

[MSwiss]

I don't prefer any particular style.

Good is good.

Even though Texas is more known for beef, the best pork ribs I ever had were from a short-lived Chicago area restaurant called Luther's, that was supposed to be a branch of a Texas restaurant.

Nothing like the meat off of the thin curvy bones, from the one end, of a slab of baby backs.

Here's the unstaged aftermath of the previous photo.

[Cheater]

You guys are making me hungry... so I grabbed a pound of Martin Chapel's pulled pork BBQ from the freezer and am heating a batch of it up for lunch right now... LOL. This is the stuff from a small church BBQ that been held every year on the fourth Saturday of June for 65 or so years. They know they're doing!

They do between 2,000 and 2,500 pounds of fresh shoulders over hickory acquired from the sawmill at the local Hinkle Chair Company, which is the company that makes the rocking chairs from Cracker Barrel. It's real tasty...

[Rob Voska]

I hope they don't charge for napkins!

[Cheater]

Rob,

 

It's served on the so-called American plan, i.e. all you can eat, where there are big bowls of BBQ, a vinegar cole slaw, terrific boiled potatoes, corn bread with squeeze butter, and jugs of both sweet and unsweet tea on the table. The only thing you're limited on is pie: you can only have one slice (and they're all pies made by dozens of local women, who generally showcase their best recipes). All for $12 this year but if you just wanted a pound of BBQ, that was $8 down by the pit. It's served up by local students and a few older folks; and they do keep the bowls full!

 

The neat thing about this BBQ is the little Methodist church that holds it only has about 30-50 members, and this is their biggest fundraising activity of the year. But it's a slice of Americana that's very hard to find any more, as probably 75% of the workers who put it on don't belong to that church. It's a classic small town affair where everyone in the community jumps in to help and that, along with the meat spending 15-16 hours or more on the pit before being hand-pulled (never chopped), is what makes it so neat. I've probably attended 25 of them over the last 30 years and hate to miss it, as I'm related to many of the people there and friends with a lot more.

 

On, napkins? There's a roll of paper towels on the table and they'll cheerfully replace it if you use 'em up.